Public higher education institutions in developing countries have faced a steady increase in student enrolment, driven by historical factors such as the expansion of access to education following the end of apartheid in South Africa and other policies aimed at addressing socio-economic inequalities. This increase, however, has led to challenges in…

School district business practices are rarely examined for their impact on the school's educational mission. However, institutional purchasing brings school districts into direct contact with corporate partners whose employment practices contradict the school's mission for equity, mobility, and social equality. Too often districts fail to question…

Twenty-first century education reform shifted the pursuit of public education from democratic principles to the pursuit of private interests for individual benefit. Reasoning from an applied behavior economic theoretical framework assumes consumers seeking economic benefits from their public schools will seek public schools with more resources.…

Just what is meant by a "Best Practice"? A best practice is a procedure, a process, or a system, adopted by best performing districts, which has a noticeable long-term positive impact on the strategic objectives of the Procurement organization. The concept of "best practices" is a fluid one. As technology, regulations and…

Over the last 18 months, school district purchasing offices across the country have been tightening the reins like never before while more top-level administrators get involved in the budget process. "When the economy really hit the skids, states got hit hard, so a lot of school districts were forced to make severe budget cuts," says John Musso,…

As higher-education institutions across the country struggle with constrained sources of funds, more than 80 percent of state institutions said they rely on energy-management programs to reduce operating costs, according to a report released by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (Aascu). The report, based on a survey of…

Describes how the University of Virginia responded to attempts by vendors to transfer product liability to the school through their contract. (EV)

A school superintendent has the responsibility to ensure that school district purchasing is handled legally and to the benefit of the district. (Author/MLF)

Explains the complexities of the process involved in obtaining payment on a forfeited bidding contract and the exceptions to the general rule on forfeiture for contract bids. Includes discussion of court litigation on the topic. (MD)

Schools are the victims, as bid-rigging scandals in the dairy-products industry surface in 13 states. School boards, in close cooperation with superintendents and district business managers, have the responsibility to detect bid-rigging or collusion. Offers guides for good business management and warning signs of bid-rigging. (MLF)

Describes measures designed to minimize errors in the summarization and reporting of financial and operating data as well as to minimize the opportunities for misuse of a school system's assets. (Author)

An audit was done of the Health Science Center, a teaching hospital in the State University of New York (SUNY) system at Syracuse. The audit addressed whether Syracuse has effective controls over selected payroll, equipment and inventory expenses. Syracuse reported an operating loss for 1990 of over $21 million dollars. The audit found that…

This module, consisting of materials for use in conducting a consumer education mini-course, deals with effective consumerism. Covered in the individual lessons are the following topics: being prepared with information (sources of consumer information and subscription forms); evaluating warranties and service contracts; evaluating advertising and…

This report concerns public purchasing at all levels of government and brings into focus the role of the purchasing official in government management. Covered in the report are essential elements of the purchasing process, including the assessment of needs; written specifications; advertising, evaluating, and awarding bids; and inspection and…

A study assessed strategies agencies use to ensure that their workforces are receiving the training necessary to implement acquisition initiatives. Focus was on the General Services Administration (GSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Department of Defense (DOD). Findings indicated that the critical elements important to…